Wheel alignment assembly and method
AssigneeSchenck Pegasus Corporation
InventorCharles A. Maas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle wheel support device for use in a wheel alignment assembly including a floating plate assembly movably supported relative to the base upon which a vehicle is positioned. The floating plate assembly includes a pair of rollers disposed in a fixed non-parallel orientation with respect to each other. The floating plate assembly is movably positioned such that a vehicle wheel may be located between the pair of rollers to isolate the vehicle wheel from the base so as to stabilize all forces acting thereon and wherein the rollers rotate the wheel so that various wheel alignment parameters may be measured.
Claims31
A vehicle wheel support device for use in a wheel alignment assembly, said device comprising:
- a floating plate assembly movably supported relative to a base upon which a vehicle is positioned;
- said floating plate assembly including a pair of rollers wherein each of said rollers defines a longitudinal axis disposed in a fixed non-parallel orientation with respect to each other such that each of said longitudinal axes may be contained in any plane such that the plane of one said longitudinal axis is not parallel to the plane of the other said longitudinal axis, said floating plate being movably positionable such that a vehicle wheel may be located between said pair of rollers and to isolate the vehicle wheel from the base so as to stabilize all forces acting thereon and wherein said pair of rollers rotates the wheel so that predetermined wheel alignment parameters maybe measured.
A wheel alignment assembly for measuring predetermined alignment characteristics of a vehicle wheel having a tire mounted thereon, said assembly comprising:
- a base on which a vehicle is supported during wheel alignment measuring operations;
- a source of structured light for projecting a structured light pattern onto the tire or the vehicle;
- a vehicle wheel support device, said device including a floating plate assembly movably supported relative to said base and including a pair of rollers wherein each of said rollers defines a longitudinal axis disposed in a fixed non-parallel orientation with respect to each other such that each of said longitudinal axes may be contained in any plane such that the plane of one said longitudinal axis is not parallel to the plane of the other said longitudinal axis, said floating plate assembly being movably positionable such that the vehicle wheel may be located between said pair of rollers and to isolate the vehicle wheel from the base so as to stabilize all forces acting thereon and wherein said pair of rollers rotate the wheel so that predetermined wheel alignment parameters may be measured.
A method of measuring alignment parameters of a vehicle wheel having a tire mounted thereon, said method comprising the steps of:
- positioning a movable floating plate assembly having a pair of rollers wherein each of said rollers defines a longitudinal axis disposed in fixed, non-parallel orientation with respect to each other such that each of said longitudinal axes may be contained in any plane such that the plane of one said longitudinal axis is not parallel to the plane of the other said longitudinal axis and such that the wheel is located between the pair of rollers;
- moving the pair of rollers in a direction toward one another such that the rollers engage and lift the wheel;
- imparting rotational movement to the vehicle wheel;
- and
- sensing a rotational position of the wheel, calculating the alignment parameters of the wheel and comparing the alignment parameters so calculated with predetermined values for the alignment parameters.
A vehicle wheel support device for use in a wheel alignment assembly, said device comprising:
- a floating plate assembly movably supported relative to a base upon which a vehicle is positioned;
- said floating plate assembly including, a plurality of rollers, said plurality of rollers including a drive roller and a pair of idler rollers, said pair of idler rollers disposed in fixed, non-parallel orientation with respect to said drive roller, said floating plate being movably positionable such that a vehicle wheel may be located between said drive roller and said pair of idler rollers and to isolate the vehicle wheel from the base so as to stabilize all forces acting thereon and wherein said drive roller rotates the wheel so that predetermined wheel alignment parameters may be measured.
A wheel alignment assembly for measuring predetermined alignment characteristics of a vehicle wheel having a tire mounted thereon, said assembly comprising:
- a base on which a vehicle is supported during wheel alignment measuring operations;
- a source of structured light for projecting a structured light pattern onto the tire of the vehicle;
- a vehicle wheel support device including a floating plate assembly movably supported relative to said base and including a plurality of rollers, said plurality of rollers including a drive roller and a pair of idler rollers, said pair of idler rollers disposed in a fixed non-parallel orientation with respect to said drive roller, said floating plate assembly being movably positionable such that the vehicle wheel may be located between said drive roller and said pair of idler rollers and to isolate the vehicle wheel from the base so as to stabilize all forces acting thereon and wherein said drive roller rotates the wheel so that predetermined wheel alignment parameters may be measured.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.